Urs Fischer at Lever House, via Art Observed

Running concurrently with his show of new works at two Gagosian exhibition spaces, Urs Fischer is exhibiting a selection of past works in the glass-encased lobby of the Lever House on Park Avenue.  Taking an intriguing approach towards the artist’s own glass-encased objects, the show makes for an intriguing perspective into Fischer’s interests in display, perspective and construction. (more…)

A recent interview with Christie’s head Steven Murphy for the Wall Street Journal notes the auction house’s commitment to entering the online market.  “I felt the art auction world had not experienced the tidal wave that music, video and books experienced with the advent of online,” said Mr. Murphy, who has worked with Rodarte and Disney in the past. (more…)

Alice Workman, the newly appointed director of Hauser and Wirth’s Somerset Gallery location, is profiled in The Guardian this week, discussing her views on the unique countryside space it occupies, and how the space will operate once fully operational.  It’s really a combination of all the things the Wirths are passionate about,”  she says. “We want different audiences to engage in different ways – some might come for the garden, the restaurant or the exhibitions, but will hopefully discover other things while they’re here.” (more…)

Urs Fischer at 104 Delancey (Installation View), via Art Observed

Following his retrospective at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles last summer, Urs Fischer returns to New York City this spring with a pair of shows that address that artist’s recent works, while turning his practice towards questions of authorship, originality and context.

Urs Fischer, the last supper (2014), via Art Observed (more…)

The sentencing for art dealer Helly Nahmad is scheduled for this Wednesday in Manhattan, with prosecutors pushing for a one year to 18 month prison sentence, while Nahmad’s defense attorney’s have proposed a program for bringing homeless youth in the Bronx to the Metropolitan Museum.  “I do not have a great education in other subjects,”  Nahmad said in a letter to Judge Jesse M. Furman. “But I really do know a lot about art, and I think I could really teach young people in a good way and hopefully introduce them to a world they might otherwise never visit.” (more…)

Korakrit Arunanondchai, 2555-2012 (2012), via Art Observed

At just 28 years old, Korakrit Arunanondchai (“Krit” for short) has already compiled an impressive aesthetic vocabulary for himself.  Mixing his own blend of aesthetic signifiers (denim, flowers, musical tropes, performative hip-hop) with a variety of media including painting, video, sculpture and performance, to create a fluid, intertextual universe.  It’s just this universe that dominates the artist’s first exhibition at MoMA PS1 this spring, a single room affair that culls from the artist’s already dense body of work to extract a series of focused themes and subjects in the artist’s young career.

Korakrit Arunanondchai, Untitled (Muen Kuey No. 17) (2013), via Art Observed (more…)

Nowness has posted a video piece by Martin Rietti focusing on Yayoi Kusama’s studio work, and her fascination with patterns and motifs such as the polka-dot.  “When I was painting I found the same pattern on the ceiling, stairs and windows like they were all over,” Kusama says. (more…)

The dispute over the movement of Picasso’s Le Tricorne tapestry from the Four Seasons restaurant in New York has resulted in a lawsuit, filed by the Landmarks Conservancy (which owns the piece), in an attempt to prevent any movement that could damage or destroy the work.  “We’re just trying to do our duty and trying to keep a lovely interior landmark intact,” says Peg Breen, president of the conservancy. (more…)

Imi Knoebel, Bild 13.11.2013 (2013) all images courtesy Kewenig

On display at Kewenig in Berlin, Germany from March 8th through April 26th is a new series of paintings by German artist Imi Knoebel, comprised of solid-colored aluminum plates in various forms made with acrylic paint. The works have been interpreted both as paintings and flat wall sculptures, hovering weightlessly in their large-scale formats. Non-representational and highly reductive, the series challenges even the artist’s own minimalistic practice in their adherence principally to form and color. (more…)

The London Underground has released a new brochure and map for the Tube, featuring design by artist Rachel Whiteread.  The new map design features a series of holes on the front cover, offering snapshots of the routes listed inside.  “As a sculptor I cast empty spaces,”  Whiteread explained. “It therefore seemed appropriate to make some holes in London which theoretically could be filled up.” (more…)

Gao-Yuan, Ai-Weiwei (2012), all images courtesy Martin-Gropius Bau

Opening on April 3rd at Martin-Gropius-Bau in Berlin, and organized by the Berliner Festspiele, is the largest solo show of works by Ai Weiwei ever to be exhibited. Taking up 3,000 square meters in 18 rooms, the installations and sculptures.  Entitled Evidence, the politically driven works from the artist, architect, and amateur politician alludes to the term meaning “proof that will stand up in court.” The works were designed in his studio on the outskirts of Beijing, and many of which were specifically designed for display in the museum’s spacious exhibition halls.

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The Wall Street Journal reports on one man’s repeated attempts to authenticate a work he believes is a Mark Rothko. Douglas Himmelfarb purchased the painting in 1987 for $319.50, but has had many problems with authenticating the work, as a number of experts refused to confirm the work’s authenticity.  “I think I had a little too much braggadocio after I found the painting,” Himmelfarb says. “Maybe that’s part of the problem. I thought, ‘This is great, and I did it.'” (more…)

Takashi Murakami’s debut film Jellyfish Eyes is set to premiere in the United States next week, bringing some of the artist’s signature characters to the silver screen.  The film, which centers around a series of magical creatures that only children can see, will show in select cities May 1st through the 5th. (more…)

Artist Stan Douglas has unveiled an interactive multimedia application this week at the Tribeca Interactive Festival, titled Circa 1948, which allows users to move through and physically interact with the architectural spaces of post-war Vancouver.  “It’s not a game,” Douglas says. “It’s a narrative. There’s no task: you’re not told to find this, kill that. There’s no beginning, middle or end – you’re sort of always in the middle. But that’s always the best part of a novel, say: not the beginning or the end. In the middle you know what’s going on.” (more…)

Martin Kippenberger, Untitled (from the series Raft of the Medusa) (1996), Art Observed

One of the last series of work from Martin Kippenberger, The Raft of the Medusa is nothing if not impressive.  Taking the dramatic tableau of Theodore Géricault’s 19th century work as his inspiration, the artist threw himself body and soul into this series of paintings, drawings, photographs, and even a single tapestry, turning his own body into the fuel for a powerful engagement with the destruction and pathos of the original work.  It’s this inspiration that sits at the center of Skarstedt Gallery’s current show of the series of works, compiling Kippenberger’s sketches and photographs alongside his series of visceral, energetic canvases, which served as the apex of his work in the series.  

Martin Kippenberger, Untitled (from the series Raft of the Medusa) (1996), via Art Observed (more…)

Richard Serra has been awarded the President’s Medal from the Architectural League of New York, the first time a non-architect has been given the award.  “In presenting this award, the League honors Richard Serra for contributions his work makes to the way we think about space, viewer and object, site, and materiality, concerns relevant to both architects and the artist,” the organization said in a statement. (more…)

Julian Schnabel, Flag Paintings, via Art Observed

Currently on view at Karma on Great Jones Street in New York is an exhibition of new work by American artist and filmmaker Julian Schnabel, featuring spray and ink painted flags Schnabel found and has used as a canvas, changing the meaning of the symbols and questioning nationalistic, religious, and cultural definitions.

Julian Schnabel, Flag Paintings (Installation View), via Art Observed

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The New York Times looks at the results of returning treasured art works to their countries of origin, and examines the varying levels of prominence or neglect these works often reach once returned.  “It’s not the same with music, it’s not the same with film, it’s not the same with literature — but when it comes to physical objects,” says J. Paul Getty Trust President James B. Cuno, “these things are kept as evidence of a proud past, as defined by the nation-state government.” (more…)

Another letter from Third Point’s Daniel Loeb attacks Sotheby’s for failing to acknowledge the strength of his choices for board seats at the auction house.  “We are convinced that having an owner’s perspective in the boardroom yields better results, that this board is in dire need of fresh insights, and that our candidates are more qualified than the company’s emissaries we are seeking to replace,” Loeb writes. (more…)

The current Sigmar Polke retrospective at MoMA has posed interesting challenges to curators, namely how to maintain the artist’s Potato House (Kartoffelhaus) and Potato Drawing (Kartoffelzeichnung), which both incorporate real potatoes as a symbol of post-war Germany, and which are also subject to the tubers’ potential to decay.  “The potatoes are allowed to sprout,” says MoMA curatorial assistant Magnus Schaefer, but “if they’re beginning to rot, we have to replace them.”  (more…)

Carter, Beside Myself (Installation View), via Art Observed

Currently on view at Lisa Cooley’s Lower East Side exhibition space is a body of new work by Carter, including paintings, drawings, photography, sculpture and film from the artist’s wide-ranging and impressive output.  Continuing his exploration of varying identities and their interconnected relationships to the art object, the show continues Carter’s ongoing interest with presence throughout.

Carter, Fully Present (2013-2014), via Lisa Cooley (more…)

The New York Times addresses the publication of Thomas Piketty’s critically-lauded book on capital accumulation and income inequality this week, questioning how the work, Capital in the Twenty-First Century, can be applied to the art world, where the vast increase in high-figure spending has priced many interested parties out from buying works  “The art market has become an excuse for banking in public,” says dealer Ivor Braka. “People are displaying wealth in the most ostentatious way possible. It’s luxury goods shopping gone wild.” (more…)

Jose Carlos Bergantinos Diaz, the suspected accomplice in the fraudulent art sales made through Knoedler Gallery, has been apprehended in Southern Spain, the Wall Street Journal reports.  Bergantino is expected to appear before a judge this week, who will decide on a potential extradition to the U.S. (more…)

The New York Times speaks with MoMA Director Glenn Lowry this week, evaluating his occasionally disputed decisions at the head of the museum, and the vast increases in attendance that he has seen during his time as museum head.  “Obviously I’m deeply empathetic to the feelings that that has elicited from a community we really care about,” Lowry says. “On the other hand, sometimes you have to make really tough decisions if you think they’re right.”  (more…)